Loosehead keen to show his doubters there is substance behind his
unconventional style

Joe Marler looks the part with his shaven locks, burly frame and menacing visage. He will be the target of hostile jibes from the Murrayfield throng on Saturday, questioning whether he is all he is cracked up to be, goaded even perhaps on the field where his once volatile short fuse still has a few embers glowing.

Marler may appear an angry young man but he has, in fact, come-of-age this last 12 months, cementing his place in England ranks, drawing praise from Stuart Lancaster for his attitude as well as aptitude on the summer tour to Argentina, and was given a fulsome endorsement on Tuesday by Graham Rowntree, the England forwards coach, after his performance at the Stade de France last weekend.

“Joe was outstanding,” Rowntree said. “His work-rate numbers were high, he was accurate and carried a lot. These are the basic roles for a loosehead and he did them well for us.”

Marler has been a victim of his own self-image. He portrayed himself as a bit of hot-head with his Mohican cut and proceeded to play like one. He was involved in scraps and scrapes, all drawing attention away from his hardness and durability where it really mattered, at the scrummaging coal-face.

Even though he has featured in every England team of the last 12 months, there is still a feeling in some quarters that he does not belong, that he is not quite up to it, that he is show rather than substance. It is a false and unfair complaint.

Marler did have a torrid time at the Millennium Stadium in March up against the world’s finest tight-head at the time in Adam Jones but he was not the only England forward to suffer that day. It is time to lay those criticisms to rest. Even the beastie boy Marler has feelings.

“My nan was threatening to ring up those who criticised me after that Grand Slam defeat,” Marler said. “I told her to shush. It was a bad day at the office and you learn. It was a b----r, a real home-hitter. We had a chance of a little bit of history but we bottled it. But you have to come back stronger. That is what I have tried to do. I don’t want to feel like that again. I don’t want to let the team down like that again.”

Marler admits that he yearns for the day when he is fully accepted as just a proper, good international loosehead. “I would love that to be the case. I don’t think I am seen like that yet by people outside. There is no way people see me as capable of being an established player. There is a fair bit in me wants to prove them wrong.

"I’ve come to realise that it is all about scrummaging. That is your No 1 priority. That is what I have worked hard on. Of course, you also have to get your involvements high round the field, too.”

And the hair-trigger temperament? Was he a liability? “Yeah, well, that was an issue but it’s not any more,” Marler said. “Well, it’s a 'work-on' shall we say. I used to go round thinking the best way for me to impose myself on the opposition was to whack ’em. It took a while for the real meaning of what a tough guy is to sink in.

"You can make a mark by doing your job well, by clearing out at rucks, making tackles, running hard, all that sort of stuff. Yeah, there might be the occasional flare-up, a few handbags, but that’s about it these days.”

Marler, 23, still has an affection for his tearaway image of old. The reality is somewhat different. He is a settled man, commuting up to Harlequins from his Sussex base, at ease in his own surroundings. Why, he is even kind to old ladies. In fact, he did a splendid Wooden Spoon charitable turn a couple of weeks ago when opening a unit at a St John’s non-maintained special school in Seaford, wonderfully natural and accommodating. “Where’s your limo?” one of the kids yelled.

Not quite yet. Harlequins director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, believes that even though Marler is in one of the most competitive positions in the England squad, with (injured) Alex Corbisiero and Mako Vunipola, as rivals, he is confident that his man will be to the fore for the next decade or so.

“Joe is only 23 and will be a cornerstone for years to come,” O’Shea said. “He has raw ability and he has got edge, too. You can’t survive at his age in the front-row unless you’ve got an edge. There is so much ill-informed stuff about Joe. He has been great on all fronts for us – scrummaging, round the park and as an all-round character at the club.”

Marler knows what lies ahead. He has to continue to impress. There is vivid competition within and plenty of opponents looking to knock him from his perch round the country. He takes all that in his stride. He knows he has to continue to perform at Murrayfield and beyond. “It is time for England to start making a statement with a World Cup on home soil looming,” Marler said.